Eleanor and Park Playlist

If you enjoyed Eleanor and Park you may enjoy the following:

Books

• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

Comics

• X-Men
• Watchmen

Movies

• Ferris Bueller
• The Labyrinth
• Pretty in Pink

TV

• Family Ties
• Growing Pains
• The Facts of Life

Music

• XTC 
• The Misfits 
• The Smiths
• Joy Division
• Echo and the Bunnymen
• The Beatles

I'm still not in love with this book.

Aronson - What is Real About Realism?

 "So the next time anyone asks you, "Is it realistic" or "What message does it send," answer, "No, it is profound, and because of that the teenagers who read it will find their own messages, which they will receive in their own ways." (Aronson, 2011).

Teenagers are smarter than we give them credit for.

If one is given a book that clearly defines its morals and its message, it is not a guarantee that the reader will agree with that message. Teenagers can form their own opinions regardless of what they are told they should think and believe. Of course, they are influenced by what they read, see on tv, read on the internet, hear their parents and teachers say. But if one believes that teenagers will only blindly repeat these things, one would be mistaken. Sure that many happen at times, but really what is happening is that the teen is forming their own views based upon those around them. They may repeat what they her the most and think that it is what they believe, but in reality they are just repeating someone else point of view. When a teen actually cares about and begins to think about a situation or idea, they will form their own opinion and may realize the opinion they repeated was not at all what they believe in.

By giving them books that push a moral but fake reality will not necessarily turn a teenager against adults as Aronson implies, because teenagers are smarter than many adults are willing to believe. They are not yet full fledged, responsible adults but they are not young, carefree children either. They have thoughts and beliefs of their own, even if they do not know how to vocalize or explain them well or at all.

Giving them access to books that make them think and come to their own moral beliefs is where I agree with Aronson. Teenagers will come to their own conclusions. however, I believe that they will do so no matter what book they are given. They can see through a fake reality that is being pushed upon them to press a moral belief into their mind. A good portion of their life is within a fake reality. There are reality television shows that are not all that "real" to begin with. Anyone can go on the internet and create a new image of themselves for show. So what is real for a teenager? That is for them to decide.

Sources

Aronson, M. What is real about realism? All the wrong questions about ya literature." Exploding
             the myths: The truth about teenagers and reading, 79-84. Latham, MD. Scarecrow Press,
             2001.

Thoughts on Eleanor and Park

After reading Eleanor and Park I texted a friend and I asked him if I was the only person in the world that did not completely love Eleanor and Park. This friend loves this book, and he informed me that no, he did know other that did not love it, but that I am definitely in the minority.

I'm really not sure how to feel about Eleanor and Park. I had not read this book prior to class, but it is a title that has been built up so much for me. I've seen many positive reviews and have heard both classmates and teens that frequent my library's YA section profess their love for the novel and the characters. Even the children's librarian at my library loves it and put the characters on our bulletin board for Literary Sweethearts for Valentine's Day. When I checked on it's circulation, it has an extremely high circulation rate in my department in comparison to some other books I have in the collection.

Because of all this I expected to love Eleanor and Park as much as everyone else does. Except that I do not. I agree that it was an intriguing read, and I breezed through it in two days. I find it to be well written and a good story in general. I just don't feel the draw to the characters that everyone else seems to feel. I'm not denying that it is a good book, I'm just not feeling the love that everyone else does. I can see why teens love it and how some can relate to the circumstances of the story, but I feel that overall they won't necessarily understand all the references. I know about cassette tapes and trying to tape songs from the radio and from my parents' records. But I was also born around the time this novel takes place. Teens today may have never seen a cassette tape, and only know iPhones and Androids. Are they understanding these references? Would they love this book even more if it had been set in a more modern time? Possibly, as they could relate to it even more. The time period is not why I do not love it. I can relate to the time.

One could say that it is because I do not relate to any character in the book. However, I've read many books that have characters I do not relate to, that I love much more than this book. I can love a story that I do not relate too. But it would seem that I cannot love a story that has been built up so highly and is so revered, only to find that it really is not all that great.

Could I have loved this book had so many people not told me that it was amazing? Maybe. But that is not something I will ever know, because it was built up so highly. And unfortunately I am unable to feel the same as everyone else does about this book.